Sense
by siqwithaQ
Summary: A collection of vignettes as Ace and Luffy's relationship develops past brotherly.


A/N: Well, here's a collection of AceLu things I wrote prompted on my tumblr (link on my profile, if you want to check it out). For the non-romantic, Sabo-focused counterpart to this, see the other oneshot I'm about to post called Nonsense, but that one contains spoilers for those who aren't caught up on the manga.

* * *

**Agelast - A person who never laughs.**

"Ace…"

Ace pulled his head out of his hands to see Luffy standing in front of him. The boy was frowning. "Hey, Lu."

"You okay?" Luffy asked gently. He sat down next to Ace on the couch as the older nodded. "Wanna watch a cartoon?"

"Yeah, sure." He didn't, really. Luffy could probably tell, but he grabbed the remote and turned the TV on anyway. After a few channel flips Luffy settled on some brightly coloured show and leaned against Ace.

Ace… hated it. He hated this new attitude everyone had all of a sudden, ever since he had tried to—

He appreciated Luffy, really, he did. Luffy had always been nice, if not as gentle as he was now. Everyone else had adopted an awkward sort of kindness, and it grated on him. It was even worse because he knew they had exactly one reason for the change, and it was because they were scared he would succeed if he tried again.

Luffy shook against him, laughing at the antics on the screen. Ace barely remembered what it felt like to laugh. Vaguely, he knew it was a good feeling.

He wanted to pull Luffy into his lap, and maybe be able to draw strength from his warmth. But he couldn't bear to risk that; what if Luffy wasn't okay with that? If no one else, he wanted Luffy to like him. He didn't want to make Luffy upset with him. Ace wanted a lot of things to do with Luffy.

"Stupid Ace," Luffy said quietly. "It's okay. I don't mind."

Ace realised very suddenly that the television was off. Luffy was watching him, and after a few seconds of Ace doing nothing but gaping, he sighed and crawled into Ace's lap. "You always do this… I can tell when you want affection, you know. And it's okay."

Ace slowly wrapped his arms around Luffy, still stunned, as the younger rested his head on Ace's shoulder.

"Stupid, stupid big brother," Luffy murmured. "You can cry. It's okay."

But Ace wasn't crying. He was laughing.

* * *

**Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.**

Ace was sitting across from Luffy, who was colouring a drawing, when he noticed the looks.

Every once in a while, Luffy would look up from his paper and stare at Ace for a brief second. It almost slipped by Ace's attention, which was primarily directed at his homework, until he caught the motion in the corner of his eye.

Now he was distracted counting how many times Luffy glanced at him. He was up to seven… eight… when he realised _he_ was the one pausing to stare now.

Luffy looked up a ninth time and their eyes met. They held surprised gazes for a moment, then looked away simultaneously.

Ace risked another look at Luffy. The younger boy was biting his lip, conspicuously attempting to appear fascinated by his drawing, and it was absolutely adorable. Ace wanted to bite Luffy's lip, too…

Ace's cheeks heated up as he shook that thought from his mind. _Bad thoughts_, he told himself, _those are bad thoughts_.

Ace looked up again and Luffy was looking back, a rosy blush spread across his cheeks to match Ace's. A second later Luffy broke eye contact and reached for a brown pencil crayon in the middle of the table. When he did Ace got a glimpse of his drawing; it was of Ace, although it was hard to tell because it was in Luffy's usual… 'style' of art.

When Ace looked down at his own paper he realised he had drawn Luffy all over his homework, too. He would have to turn it in the next day, but somehow he couldn't bear to erase it.

Instead he stole one more glance at Luffy and started another doodle.

* * *

**Baisemain - A kiss on the hand.**

Ace was distracted, reading, when someone grabbed his hand. "You have a cut," said Luffy's voice.

Ace looked up, blinking at his little brother's sudden appearance. "Er, yeah." Luffy pulled his hand closer and examined the thin, reddish line in the middle of his palm. "Paper cut."

Luffy frowned, and Ace swore he _glared_ at the book in Ace's lap. "Stupid paper," Luffy muttered, pulling Ace's hand even closer. "It should know better. Nothing hurts Ace."

Ace chuckled. "Now, now, that's not true, kiddo. I'm not invincible."

"Nothing hurts Ace _or else_," Luffy amended. Suddenly, he dipped his head and pressed his lips against Ace's palm. "Better now?"

"Of course," Ace said indulgently. Actually, his hand still stung, but he found it so adorable that Luffy still believed in kissing wounds better that he could ignore it. "I feel all better."

"Good," said Luffy. He gave Ace's hand a squeeze. "Good."

Ace couldn't quite decipher the look that flashed through Luffy's eyes at that moment, but he felt he didn't need to. Luffy cared, and that was all that seemed to matter.

* * *

**Basorexia - An overwhelming desire to kiss.**

It was not often Ace came home to find Luffy playing with makeup. In fact, it had never happened even once before, but there the boy was with blush coating his cheeks and forehead and eyeshadow on his nose.

Luffy looked up when Ace walked in, but as soon as he had seen him he looked back at the lipstick tube he was staring at confusedly. "I don't _get_ it," he whined.

Ace sighed. "Don't get what?" he asked, walking over to sit next to Luffy on the floor.

Luffy showed him the little tube, which still had the opaque, metallic cap on it. "Where does the colour come out?"

"You left the cap on."

"The what?" said Luffy, blinking at him obliviously.

"Here." Ace held out his hand, which Luffy blinked at just as obliviously. "Give it to me, and I'll show you how to get the colour out."

"Oh!" Luffy plopped the tube into Ace's hand. Ace slid off the cap and twisted the base, making Luffy gape. "That's amazing! How did you do that?!"

"Magic," said Ace. Luffy grinned, then leaned forward with closed eyes and an exaggerated pout that made Ace the one to blink obliviously this time.

A silent second passed and Luffy leaned in ever closer. Did… Did he want Ace to kiss him? Was that why he was protruding his lips that way? Was the red on his cheeks really blush, or _a_ blush?

And, well, he would be damned if Luffy didn't look kissable. Not when he was waiting there with his eyes closed so trustingly, revealing that his nose wasn't the only place he got the eyeshadow on — the lids covering his big eyes had a faint green sheen on them as well. Luffy also seemed to be wearing mascara, which appeared to be the only thing he had applied properly.

Ace kissed Luffy. The younger started and pulled away.

"I just wanted you to put the lipstick on for me," Luffy said, his cheeks turning so luminously red they shone through the blush.

"Oh," said Ace. A few seconds passed.

Luffy kissed Ace this time, and there were no objections.

* * *

**Sphallolalia - Flirtatious talk that leads no where.**

As he and Luffy sat on the front steps of their house, Ace's face wasn't red just from the summer heat.

A few days ago, Ace had made sure Luffy understood that the proper way to enjoy a popsicle was slowly and thoroughly, rather than to devour it like the boy did with the rest of his food. The pink popsicle settled between Luffy's lips now _almost_ made him regret that decision. The slurping noises and little happy hums he made should have been _illegal_ — and it didn't help that Luffy liked to sit in Ace's lap no matter how hot it was.

With a pop, Luffy pulled the partially-finished popsicle out of his mouth to smile up at Ace. "You were right, Ace! it _is_ better to just use your tongue!"

"O- oh yeah?" Ace's face must have looked like a tomato — or maybe a strawberry, considering his freckles. The sudden temperature spike must have given him heatstroke, because then he was bold enough to say, "Well… If you wanted, I could show you something else that's good to use your tongue on…"

"Really?" Luffy asked, looking up at Ace curiously as his tongue flicked out to catch some juice that had been dripping down the side. Ace's blush spread to places he'd rather not mention.

Ace opened his mouth to unleash another stupid, heatstroke-and-hormone induced innuendo onto the poor boy, but before he could he was interrupted by the sound of music. Was that… Pop Goes the Weasel?

"It's the ice cream truck!" Luffy shouted, hopping to his feet. He started to skip away, but then seemed to notice Ace was lagging behind and turned to face him. "Are you coming?"

"Nah." Standing up would not have been the best idea for Ace at that moment. "You go ahead; I'll be here when you get back."

"Well, okay." Luffy grinned, snickering, and crossed his arms behind his head. "I'll bring you one to suck on, too!"

Ace nearly died right then.

* * *

**Cataglottism - Kissing with tongue.**

Luffy was… messy. He always had been, and if Ace ever thought he would be any different when it came to romance — well, he shouldn't have. As it turned out, kissing made Luffy less like a boyfriend and more like an excited puppy.

"L… Luffy…" Ace muttered as the boy lapped at his lips. He turned his head away, but Luffy just started kissing and licking his cheek instead. Ace laughed. "Oi, hey! That's not how you're supposed to do it!"

Luffy paused long enough to give Ace a frown. "This is how—" He nipped Ace's nose. "—_I_ do it." Luffy sucked the corner of Ace's lips into his mouth, latching onto it with his teeth.

"Yesh, buh—" He managed to pull his lips free, but it was a hard won victory. "You're supposed to do it in _here_." Ace opened his mouth wide, going as far as to point at it for emphasis.

Luffy made an inquisitive sound, and not another second passed before their lips were sealed together, and Luffy was rubbing the flat of his tongue against Ace's teeth, pallet, gums… It felt as if Luffy were trying to shove his own mouth inside of Ace's. Ace grinned into the kiss as Luffy started bullying Ace's tongue into a corner with his own.

Luffy was messy. Ace wondered how messy he could get.

* * *

**Extra: Duende - Unusual power to attract or charm.**

Everyone loved Luffy. Everyone _always_ loved Luffy, and Luffy liked it that way. People had loved him automatically since he was seven years old, when he ate a fruit he found in a little chest Shanks' crew had with them. No one had been able to fault him for that, somehow, and Shanks proceeded to buy him ice cream. Other than the bandits, it had been a good day.

Since then Luffy had figured out, by stealing Lucky Roo's book on Devil Fruits, that the one he ate gave him the ability to make people love him, as well as be able to sense the amount of love they had for any one thing. Luffy had a lot of fun seeing how much of a pushover he could make his grandpa from then on.

Ten years of using his power liberally whenever he felt lonely, and soon Luffy was sure that his brother Ace was the only person in the world who loved him naturally. His powers had made it easy to gather nakama and even distract enemies, but that was mostly artificial as far as he could tell. Real love, he only associated with one person. Then, they met up in Alabasta…

Luffy was shocked when he sensed the change in Ace's love for him. It had… dipped, in the years they had been apart. Was it natural? Just caused by separation? Or…

Terrifyingly, it could be because maybe Luffy's powers had some influence on Ace after all, and they had faded with distance. Ace might have only loved Luffy artificially the whole time, and that made Luffy want to cry.

That was the biggest problem with the Ero Ero no Mi. The fear that no one truly loved you.

Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace when his big brother tried to leave and begged him to stay, just for a night. Luffy would figure this out. Luffy would fix this. He _would_.


End file.
